Findus Considering Legal Action Over Horsemeat Contamination

09/02/2013 19:42
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Updated
09 February 2013

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PA/Huffington Post UK

One of the food companies at the centre of the horsemeat scandal said on Saturday evening that it was considering taking legal action against its suppliers as the environment secretary warned that there may be more cases of contaminated meat to come.

Owen Paterson said that results from tests on all retailers' and manufacturers' processed beef products could see further traces of horse meat being found.

He expressed concern that an international criminal conspiracy was taking place and made it clear the Government will work with authorities anywhere to ensure appropriate measures are taken.

Frozen foods firm Findus, which has taken its beef lasagnes off shelves after some were found to have up to 100% horse meat in them, said it was looking into legal action as an internal investigation "strongly suggests" that the contamination "was not accidental".

The company said in a statement: "Findus is taking legal advice about the grounds for pursuing a case against its suppliers, regarding what they believe is their suppliers' failure to meet contractual obligations about product integrity."

Paterson spoke after attending an emergency meeting with bosses from leading supermarkets, trade bodies and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to discuss the scandal which has seen chains including Tesco, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland withdraw some of its products.

Paterson: 'More bad results coming...'

The FSA have now asked retailers and processors to test all their processed beef products to make sure they are what they say they are.

"There may well be more bad results coming through, that's the point of doing this random analysis," Mr Paterson said.

He said retailers hold the "ultimate responsibility" for making sure that horse meat is not in their products and that the supermarkets and trade bodies at today's talks had agreed to look into how they can improve their existing regimes and have already begun plans to carry out more testing and report their results on a quarterly basis.

They had also agreed that consumers should be compensated if they have bought withdrawn products with no questions asked, he said.

Paterson added: "It's a question of either gross incompetence, but as I've said publicly and I'll repeat again, I'm more concerned there's actually an international criminal conspiracy here, and we've really got to get to the bottom of it.

"If there's a criminal act we will work with the authorities wherever they are to ensure the appropriate measures are taken.

"This is a conspiracy against the public. Selling a product as beef, and including a lot of horse in it is fraud."

Bosses from supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons attended the meeting at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in London after the issue last night became a police matter as Scotland Yard announced they had met representatives from the FSA, although there is currently no official police investigation.

Asked if there were any plans to test for traces of other meats, such as dog, the environment secretary said: "It may be very isolated, it might be a small number of suppliers involved in the horse trade we don't know, but I think that as we progress and we'll know more over the course of the next few weeks, we can decide what to do next."

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Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Owen Paterson, left, speaks to the media outside Defra Headquarters in London, Saturday Feb. 9, 2013, after an emergency meeting with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and representatives of various leading retailers, as revelations about the widespread use of horseheat in supermarket beef products continues to hit consumer confidence. Concerns about the use of horsemeat burst into the spotlight earlier this year, after it emerged that some beef products contained horse DNA, and now the whole industry faces pressure to test their products and reveal the findings. (AP Photo / John Stillwell, PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES